Blackrose
by Callisto's Dream
Summary: Lydecker wasn't always informed when it came to all the Chimera projects out there. And Madam X liked it that way. One girl though slipped through the cracks.
1. Project Blackrose

Blackrose

Blackrose

Hidden within the Black Hills of South Dakota there was a fluke. A girl who wasn't supposed to live. Not only was she not supposed to live, she wasn't even supposed to be born. But mistakes always happen, no matter what the precautions. Though, this time, everyone will regret this mistake. This one mistake that happened in Blackrose. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her nostrils flared at the sanitary smell of the white linoleum walls, floor, and even ceiling. The sharp clicking of her heels were the only sound that echoed around the halls. The black, no non-sense business suit that she wore only accented the feeling of importance that radiated off of her. Sharp, intelligent brown eyes darted around noticing every detail and everyone. Workers hugged the walls to let her pass and give her room. With a slight grunt of disgust she turned sharply on her heel and turned to an unmarked door on the right side of the hallway. Opening the door she walked in with three soldiers following her inside. The last soldier closed the door and stood at attention guarding the door, his rifle held in his hands at a ready position.

There was one other man in the room waiting for the woman. When the woman and the soldiers walked in he stood and nervously held his hands in front of him. His gray suit matched his gray complexion and made him look all together rather sickly. Behind thick lenses gray eyes peaked out under heavily lidded eyes. A thinning crop of brown hair anointed his head. 

"Madam," he began as the woman sat down.

"Oh shut up Mr. Johnson. I have heard enough out of you and your entire department," the woman snapped. "Now sit down and you will listen very hard to what I am going to say to you and you will obey every word I tell you. Understood?"

Mr. Johnson nodded quickly as he sat down at the table across from the woman. 

"Good. Now about I have just come from the classrooms that the X5b's where in. I have also just learned about your little pet in that group." She looked down her nose at Mr. Johnson and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. "I would like to know why you let that one live? Weren't you and your colleagues told that any of the chimeras with an IQ above 195 be killed? Don't even bother answering," she interrupted Mr. Johnson as he opened his mouth. "Not only does she have an IQ above 195 as I have read from her chart, but it is above 300. But I am now interested in this one. You will not kill her but let her continue with the other X5b's in their training. You will report back to me about her and who ever she communicates with every month." 

She stood up and walked to the door as the soldier moved to the side to let her open the door. Opening the door she turned and looked over her shoulder at Mr. Johnson. "Oh, and Mr. Johnson, I will personally come and visit every six months." She then took as step out of the room. "Oh and it was nice to see you again Morty. I am glad you are working here at Blackrose," she called over her shoulder and was gone. 

Morty Johnson sank down in his chair after the last soldier closed the door behind them. Sighing he pulled out a walkie-talkie and took a deep breath. "Hey Josh?"

"Yeah Mort?" a voice over the radio asked.

"She just left and we are to watch ten zero at all times. Got it?"

"Yeah. So we still up for dinner?"

Morty laughed, "Yeah, I think I need to relax for a few after meeting with her. Talk to ya in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, see ya."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soft laughter sparkled in a pair of blue eyes as they looked everyone in the room with her. Everyone was sitting up with their backs straight and heads forward as they listened to their teacher. Slowly she turned her blue eyes to the girl who was sitting right next to her. Rapidly she blinked using code to her friend. 

'Whom should we get next?' she asked.

'We haven't done anything to Donaldson yet. Maybe him,' her friend replied back also in code.

'Okay, at oh four hundred we will give him a small surprise.' 

Silently the two laughed listened to their teacher tell them about quantum mechanics and stuff like that. Suddenly a bell rang and the teacher looked relieved. 

"All right. You all are to go to your barracks and rest. You have field training all tomorrow and you will only get to eat what you find out there. Dismissed!"

Silently all the students who all looked no older than ten or twelve stood and filed out of the room. All hair their hair shaved in a military cut and wore pale green hospital gowns. Most were tall though some where more medially built. The only striking thing about all these kids was their beauty. Even at a young age their beauty was astounding and would only grow more as they got older.

The two girls who talked in code during the class walked back to the barracks together. When they finally got there they escaped into peals of laughter. The girl with the blue eyes sat down on her hard bed and bounced a little. "I'm bored Selene! Can't we do something now?"

Selene's green eyes laughed as she sat down next to her friend. "Callisto, you know that if we do we will get into trouble. I hear that in Manticore one wrong move and you're dead!"

Suddenly all the kids crowed around the two girls. They all looked at Callisto and Selene. All of them knew that those two were special but they were all still friends. 

"Tell us about Manticore, Cally!" one girl demanded as she sat down next to Selene on the bed. 

"Okay, Joan. Well, at Manticore they treat you like dogs! I have heard them say that they make them cut off their own fingers if they do something wrong! And also they aren't allowed to talk at all! Only when they are given permission."

"You mean they don't talk like we do? When we aren't in class or in the field?" Another person asked.

Selene nodded, "Just that. No talking at all! I also hear that the guy who runs Manticore is really mean. He even killed some of them there! I'm glad we are here."

Some of the kids grunted a reply while others looked just plain lost. Cally shook her head. "Both stink, but at least here we have a bit more freedom. We aren't just numbers. They have names at Manticore but they mostly go by their numbers. I would hate to be called there. I would get lost after the first five zeros!"

Everyone began to laugh at this old joke. For some reason Callisto's bar-code number came out very different from anyone else's. It was all zeros. Ten to be exact. So to make is easier on people she was often referred to as ten zero. 

Suddenly a small black girl came running into the room. Her face was dirty but she had a large grin on her face. Clutched in her hand was a manila folder with the word Blackrose printed on it. She came to a skidding stop in front of everyone and took a deep breath. With a quick salute she turned to Callisto and Selene.

"Mission complete. I was able to infiltrate the room and take the information needed," she smiled again. "And I was able to sneak a peek at what is going on in the world and I heard some about Manticore."

Everyone smiled and clapped softly for fear of alerting any guards. The girl sat down next to Callisto and handed her the folder. With a grin Callisto opened it. 

"Okay, here it is. The story behind project Blackrose…

~~~~

Project Blackrose:

Project Blackrose is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. All rules of Manticore apply here with a few exceptions. Everyone who enters Blackrose can not leave unless they are specified. Currently only Madam X can enter or leave the Blackrose facility unescorted. 

Blackrose is guarded tightly and if any word does leak out about it, the project cover up is that it is a training ground for soldiers. This is highly unlikely because all who have come across Blackrose now work in Blackrose or have been dealt with. 

Currently the Blackrose group X5b are in the same level of the Manticore X5. Only it has been shown that the Blackrose group has better adapted and work better together and with their superiors. The Manticore group has shown many times that they lack control and can often have mental problems.

Another problem found in the Manticore group is their susceptibility to seizures. Their brains seem to not make enough tryptophan to support them with stabile results. It is not yet known why only the Manticore children have this defect and not the Blackrose children. 

The cat DNA that both groups of children have has created one small problem. Once the children reach puberty they will go into periods of so called 'heat' every three to four months. It makes both sexes have this incredible urge to breed. Currently none of the X5's or X5b's have gone into heat yet. This is only known because of the X4 group that has only minor differences with the X5 group. 

Right now Blackrose is running tests on how well the group can work together…

~~~~

Callisto flipped the page and shook her head, "Nothing worth reading to you all anymore. The rest we all know." Callisto turned to the black girl who brought in the papers, "Thanks so much Tina. At least we know where in this world we are."

Everyone nodded gravely before they heard soft steps walking towards them. "Lights out! NOW!" a soldier yelled to them from out side the door.

They all slowly stood up and lay down in their own beds. Soon they were all asleep except for Selene and Callisto. The two looked over at each other and shared the same thought; they needed to find away out of Blackrose. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Three Years Later

Callisto's eyes popped open suddenly. Quickly she adjusted her vision for the blackness of the barracks. Scanning the room she saw a man entering the dark room and come to stand in the doorway. He lifted a hand up, a recorder in his hands, and began to speak.

"The subject still shows accelerated knowledge and growth in her abilities. The other who she is associated with the most also shows some of this accelerated knowledge, though not as strong. The six month report is coming up in two weeks and it has been requested that X5b ten zero come and meet with Madam. But if she does I have a feeling she will not come back to her unit. Good luck to her." The man turned off the recorder and set it down on a table by the door. Quickly he walked out shutting the door quietly. 

Callisto stood up silently and walked quickly over to the table to pick up the recorder. On the back a message was taped. Seeing her identification code on the note she read it quickly. 

'X5b ten zero-

Listen to the tape and leave here. Others like you have escaped before. You don't need to be one of their guinea pigs. Be careful.'

Frowning she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and walked over to friend's bunk. 

Her friend's back was to her and her eyes closed in sleep. "What is it Cally?" she asked.

"An escape plan. Wanna come Selene?" 

Selene's eyes opened and she turned around. Grinning she stood up and hugged her friend. "About time. How are we going to get the others out?"

Callisto shook her head sadly. "They are happy here. Only the two of us are the ones who are having the problems with everyone. We need to leave tonight."

Nodding her head Selene agreed. "Okay, but how do we get out?"

"I think our little friend here will help us," Callisto stated holding up the recorder. 

Slowly the two of them opened a window and jumped out. The security inside of Blackrose was rather lax. It was only the perimeter security that was extremely tight. Quietly they ran to the outside defenses and stood by a gate to let them out. Callisto pressed the call button on the gate and held up the recorder.

"Hello? Who is there?" asked the man running the gate that evening.

"Who the hell do you think this is? Open this gate right now!" the recorder played in Madam's voice. Obviously to Callisto and Selene it was a recording of what must happen every time comes to the gate.

"Oh, I'm sorry Madam. I'll open the gate for you!" the man said quickly.

"About time!" the recorder said as the gate swung open.

Running Selene and Callisto ran out and into the woods around the Blackrose compound. They kept running until it was the afternoon of the next day.

"Did that seem rather easy to you?" Selene asked.

"Yeah, I think someone must be looking out for us," Callisto said as she sat down panting. "Wanna go find some food?"

"Oh yes, I'm starving!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Author's Note: Hey yals! Try to keep the flames down to a minimum! This just came to me one night and I have been liking it. Tell me what you think and drop me a line. Reviews are always loved, suggestions that are intelligent are loved even more! Love yas!_

~Callisto 


	2. Eight years later in Seattle

Eight Years Later - Seattle, Washington

Eight Years Later - Seattle, Washington

"Boo, I just don't understand why you and Roller-boy are still 'just friends.'" Original Cindy stated making the just friends in quotes using her fingers.

Max rolled her chocolate brown eyes, "We're just not that way. Kinda how you and I don't swing that way. We're just friends, aiight?"

Cindy just shook her head, her hands on her hips, "Whatever Boo. I'll let you fool yourself for right now but you two are gonna both figure it out one day and let me tell you, I will be there to say I told you so." The black woman ended her speech just as Sketchy and Herbal Thought walked up to the two women.

"Anyone up for a round at Crash tonight after we leave?" Sketchy asked as he fiddled with the strap to his bag. 

"Bip bip bip people! I don't pay you idiots to just stand there all day!" Normal shouted into their ears as he walked past them. "Hot run to Foggle Towers. Max-" He wasn't allowed to finish his sentence as Max grabbed the package from his hands.

"I'm on it," she stated as she stuffed it into her backpack. "See yal later at Crash. Gotta blaze!" Smiling she mounted her bike and peddled out of the Jam Pony Ex-Press.

"I do believe that our Max is whipped," Herbal said aloud in wonder as the brown locked beauty peddled out of the building.

"Couldn't have said it better my man," Sketchy replied just as a package was shoved into his face by Normal.

"Hot run to Castleton. Bring me back a signature," Normal commanded.

With a mock salute Sketchy and Herbal got on their bikes and rode off to deliver packages. Original Cindy stood looking at their retreating figures with a slight grin on her face. Smiling she turned towards the window where Normal normally was stationed to maybe have a good exchange of words with her boss before going on a few runs. 

As she turned she saw a girl enter the building and go up to the window. She had brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore a high collared jacket. Bright green eyes looked up at Normal and smiled. 

"Hey, I was wondering if you have any applications here. I was hoping I could get a job here," she said still smiling up at Normal.

"Listen missy, I'm very busy right now. Just fill out this form and show up on time and you are hired," he replied without even looking up.

Still smiling the girl filled out the application in a rapid speed and handed it back to Normal. "Can I start today?"

Normal looked up at the green eyed girl from his papers. Raising an eyebrow he looked over the application and nodded slowly. "Yeah, you can start today. Cindy, you show this kid the ropes okay?"

Cindy smiled, "Just for you Normal, just for you," her voice dripped in sarcasm as she grabbed the girl by the elbow and walked her over to the girls locker room. "Lesson number one…"

The girl laughed, "No one likes Normal. I figured that out. I was watching you all before I walked up."

Laughing Cindy nodded, "Right you are there Boo. So, what's your name?"

She held out her hand, "Selene Thomas. And you are Cindy?"

Original Cindy took her hand, "Original Cindy, but you can call me Boo."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blaring music the pumped out of the speakers of the bar Crash could be heard all the way from the street. Many people came to Crash to do just that. Relaxing and having a good time was always the pass time of the inhabitants. And of course the casual flirting and fifty-fifty chance at finding someone to respond to the flirts. The Jam Pony gang sat at their usual table that night drinking beers and talking. Most of the conversation was about the people getting up on the bar and doing bike tricks.

"I could so do that," Sketchy boasted.

Everyone rolled their eyes as they muttered, "Whatever," to the man sitting with them.

"So, this new girl showed up today to work at Jam Pony," Herbal cut in on Sketchy's tirade.

"Who would want to work there? It sucks," Max stated as she took a sip of her beer.

Cindy rolled her eyes, "And what do we do? We all work there. But, yeah, a new girl showed up today."

"What is she like?" Sketchy asked always wanting to get the 411 on new female employees at Jam Pony.

Original Cindy smiled and leaned back, "Nice and god does she have a nice ass."

Everyone at the table laughed. Max rubbed her temple as she watched the entrance to the bar, "Do you know if she swings that way?" 

"Unfortunately she won't be my next lickty boo. She is straight."

Smiling at Cindy everyone took a sip of their beers hoping that the evening would become more exciting.

Herbal looked at the bar and held his head to the side, "Is that new bartender new or is the All High deceiving me?" 

All eyes turned to look at a new bartender standing taking with a person at the counter. Her hair was blonde and held back in a ponytail. Blue eyes sparkled in the dim light as she spoke to the person. She wore a high collared jacket and blue jeans. 

Cindy nodded, "Yeah, I think she is new. We ought to go and have some fun with her Max. Ya know, guessing phone numbers and that?"

Rolling her chocolate eyes Max stood up with Cindy, "Only for you Boo, only for you!"

As they approached the bar the blonde woman turned to them with a half friendly smile. "What's your poison tonight ladies?"

Cindy shook her head, "Noting to drink, but I bet that my friend here can guess the last number called on that phone of yours. Just hit the re-dial."

The blonde looked at Max and then to Cindy, "Whatever. Okay, I'll do it, but no money, I'll give you a free round if she does guess it."

"That's cool Boo."

Hitting the re-dial button on the phone the blonde rubbed the back of her neck lightly and glanced at the entrance to Crash. A man in a black leather suit had just walked in and was making his way to the bar. Her eyes widened and she turned to Max and Cindy, "Listen, I'll give you that free round, I just have to go!" 

Without preamble the blonde woman jumped over the bar-top and made a dash for the back door. The man in the black suit gave a shout of frustration and dashed after the blonde. Max turned in time to see the man run out and see a military walkie-talkie and gun at his hip. 

"Hey, I think that she needs my help. I'll be back later, okay?" Max said to Cindy.

"Sure Boo, just make sure that those black helicopter guys don't get you. Who would I be able to tease if you are caught?" she joked as Max smiled and ran after the blonde and the man in black.

As she came out of Crash into the back alley she waited a moment to see what was going on. The sound of a fight was clear in the dark Seattle night.

"Why can't you guys just leave us alone!" Max heard the blonde say as the sound of a body hitting concrete rebounded off the alley walls. "We left for a reason and I for one ain't going back there!"

A groan could be heard as the man was knocked out and air left his lungs. Slowly Max stood up and walked into the light. The blonde was standing over the man, the walkie-talkie and gun in her hands. With unbelievable speed she took the gun apart into separate pieces and tossed them into different directions. 

"Nealson? Nealson! Are you there? Report!" was heard from the walkie-talkie. 

The blonde held the walkie-talkie to her mouth and pressed the call button, "I'm sorry but due to technical difficulties Nealson won't be reporting right now."

"You!" came the strangled voice over the walkie-talkie. A low growl could be heard coming from it. "We will get you back you know," was the angry female reply.

"Whatever, but I do believe that you are wrong. Ttfn, tah tah for now, bitch," the blonde placed the walkie-talkie on the ground and stepped on it making it unusable. 

Turning the blonde saw Max and rolled her eyes, "What? Do I have to deal with you know too?"

Max held her hands out to show she was unarmed, "No, I just thought you might need some help. That's all."

Nodding the blonde smiled slightly, "Well, thanks but I don't, well, didn't need your help." Her head cocks to the side as she listens, "Well, I think I hear my cue to exit. Tschüs!" And with again, incredible speed she ran out of the alley and was gone.

Seconds after she was gone Max was able to hear the sounds of sirens off in the far distance. "How was she able to hear that before me?" Pondering this question Max walked back into Crash and sat back down with Cindy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selene walked into Jam Pony the next day looking very tired. Her green eyes looked dim and circles were around her eyes. She walked into the girls' locker room and changed for the day.

Cindy and Max saw Selene walk in and walked over to her. "Hey Boo, why so tired? Go out partying last night?" Cindy asked.

She laughed lightly and shook her head, "No, my room-mate just ran into some trouble last night and we had to straighten things out. And that just took forever!"

Cindy nodded while looking at Max, "Yeah, I know how that is."

Max looked at her as if saying, 'What?'

Laughing lightly Selene turned to Max, "So, are you the famous Max I heard about yesterday?"

She nodded and held her hand out to Selene, "That I am, you must be Selene. Nice to meet you."

"And you," Selene said taking Max's hand. 

"Bip, bip, bip!" Normal shouted, "I don't pay you all to stand there and talk all day!"

"You don't pay us enough as it is!" Sketchy yelled out from the couch.

The three girls laughed lightly as they ignored Normal and walked over to the couch to where Sketchy and Herbal sat. 

"Hey, guys, this is the new girl, Selene Thomas. Meet Sketchy and Herbal Thought," Max introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Selene said as she smiled at each of them. 

Suddenly the television screen fizzled and a Streaming Freedom Bulletin came on. Eyes Only's voice came through using his normal introduction. Max gave a low purr listening to the bulletin she thought no one could hear. Selene suddenly giggled lightly.

"What?" Max asked.

"You! You have a crush on a very sexy, might I add, pair of ice blue eyes and a very husky voice! This is too much!" Selene laughed lightly as she walked over to Normal and grabbed a package. She waved to everyone as she pedaled out.

Original Cindy turned to her best friend and raised an eyebrow. "That girl is good."

Max rolled her eyes, "Whatever! I have to do actual work, bye!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Peace. Out." Logan said as he cut off the hack he held as the one and only Eyes Only. Slowly he rolled out of his computer room into the hallway of his penthouse. Looking at the walls around him he sighed looking out a window. The sound of the door opening made him turn around.

"Hey man!" Bling called out as he walked into the penthouse with an arm full of groceries. He walked into the kitchen with Logan following him.

"Hey yourself," Logan said while taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt. Putting his glasses back on he took a bottle of orange juice and he rolled over to the refrigerator putting it in. "So, what are you doing today?"

"Nothing really," Bling said as he looked at Logan. "Man you look tried. You'll work yourself to death one day and you know what that would do to Max don't you?"

Logan rolled his eyes as he took a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "You know Max and I aren't like that. We're just friends," he said as Bling mouthed the words along with him. 

A laugh in his eyes Bling shrugged, "Whatever man. You just go to bed and sleep a little bit. If not for me, for Max? You do what to be awake for your dinner tonight right?"

Laughing Logan rolled out of the kitchen, "All right, you win. I'm off to bed. Wake me if anything interesting happens, okay?"

Waving him away Bling nodded. "Sure, sure. Just sleep!"

Taking a cup of coffee from the coffeepot Bling walked into the living room and sat down with a book. Curling up in an armchair he began to read. Without even realizing it, two hours went by. A soft click of the lock being picked didn't even make Bling turn around for he thought it was Max.

Suddenly a black leather covered hand was clamped over his mouth. The hand that was covering his mouth muffled his shout. Before he could think of fighting another hand appeared with a gun in it. 

"Listen, don't make me have to use this. Okay, now I'm gunna knock you out so you don't get hurt by me and you can't tell anyone who was here. Good-night!" And suddenly Blink only saw white as the butt of the gun hit him in the head.

Pulling the mask from her face, the blonde shook her hair out. "Sorry cutie, I just don't want any trouble."

Intelligent blue eyes scanned the penthouse landing on a statue of the Egyptian Goddess Bast. Grinning broadly the woman pulled the leather glove off of her right hand. Picking the statue up gingerly she looked into its golden eyes. The click of a gun cocking stopped her from moving. She could feel the muzzle of the gun resting against her head.

"I suggest you put that statue down and turn around very, very slowly," a deep husky voice commanded her.

With silent grace she slowly lowered the statue back onto its pedestal and raised her hands above her head. Slowly she stepped and turned around to face a standing Logan. She raised a single curved eyebrow at him. 

"You can walk?" she asked softly.

Logan nodded, "Yes I can walk. What made you think I couldn't?" he asked. The gun still pointed at her head.

The woman fidgeted and looked into Logan's blue eyes. "You have lovely eyes," she stated out of the blue before continuing. "I have been watching your place for some time now. I've never seen you stand before now. How can you stand?"

Always up to talking about technology Logan told her about Phil and him giving Logan the exoskeleton for his legs. But he left out the interesting parts about his family, Max, and other things that might seem weird. The two stood looking at each other for another moment before a low moan came from the slowly awakening Bling. Logan looked from Bling to the girl and she shrugged.

"I didn't want trouble!" She grinned lightly. "I still don't want trouble and I won't take anything from here. You're a pretty nice guy since you haven't pulled the trigger yet. Most people I know would have and I would be dead. I'm actually surprised that you could sneak up on me. I have rather good hearing for the average person."

During this monologue Bling had stood slowly and walked over to stand next to Logan. "You sound like a friend of ours. She has really good hearing as well. At first I thought you were her when you picked the lock."

The woman laughed lightly, "Rather unconventional of her to pick the lock and not use the door bell if she is a friend."

Bling shot an accusing look at Logan. "I have a tendency to ignore door bells," Logan said sheepishly. 

A short laugh came from the blonde woman in response. "Good information to know in case I stop by again," she said as she winked at the two men. Taking another moment she looked at them, "I'm not going to hurt either of you anymore," she winked at Bling, "I can go now, nothing in my hands or pockets, and no one is worse for wear." 

Logan looked down at his watch, the gun by now was at his side and the clip out, "Hey, it is around dinner time. How about you stay for something to eat, I'm not too bad in the kitchen." 

She grinned, "Wow, I'm being asked to dinner by a really attractive guy with a gun and his other really attractive friend who looks like a body builder, what am I to do?" She mock thought for a moment, "Okay, sounds fun!"

Logan and Bling looked at each other quickly in surprise at this woman. She in turn turned to them and grinned wider. "My name is Callisto Roberts by the way. Nice to meet you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

__

AN: Hey yals! Sorry this took forever but writer's block sucks big time. I hope you all like this installment of Blackrose and continue to bare with me through this and Lucky Thirteen. Be kind and Review! ~Callisto's Dream

~In loving memory of Basel 

"Do you have a guardian angel?"

Don't forget to read Cloudy Head, Redragonfly, Fencergirl, and my other buddy's stories!


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